Katie Rowland
Mrs Katherine Elizabeth "Katie" Rowland '''(née '''Sunderland, born 1st May 1987) is a teacher at River Hall Secondary School, and has been since September 2011, having previously done her teacher training there the year before. A member of the Performing Arts Faculty, Rowland specialises in Drama and became the Drama Department's head in 2015, later working her way up to Second in Faculty in 2017 and becoming Head of Performing Arts in 2021. Her classroom is PA2, though she often delivers lessons in the school Theatre. In August 2013 she married David Albert Rowland and had their first son, George, later that year, followed by Alexander in 2018. She is the second child of Richard and Pauline Sunderland, and has an older brother named Charles. Rowland is notable as one of the only RHSS former students that returned to teach there, and is a close friend of Claire Jones, Emily Hutchinson and Yvonne Radcliffe. Early Life Katherine Sunderland was born in May 1987 to a working-class family in the River Hall area. She attended St. Clement's C of E Primary School despite being an atheist, and later went on to attend River Hall Secondary School, where she achieved very high marks in GCSE Drama, obtaining an A*, and was Deputy Head Girl in Year 11. She attended the Edward Dyke College of Performing Arts where she studied A-Level Drama, Theatrical Study and Dance. She then spent several years working as an aerobics and dance instructor at Frightfully Fun Fitness, her local gym, before deciding to become a teacher, obtaining a Bachelors' Degree in Drama and Theatrical Study from the University of Western Wiltshire. Teacher Training In early 2010, Sunderland applied for the renowned River Hall School-Centered Initial Training of Teachers (RHSCITT) course, and was accepted as a trainee Drama teacher. Her main placement was her old secondary school, River Hall, where her main mentor was the Head of Drama Lewis Godwinson. She then did her second placement during the spring term at Corbett Academy before returning to RHSS for the summer term. In February 2011 she gained a position as a Drama teacher at River Hall due to increasing class sizes for September, and achieved very high marks in her assessments and observations. RHSS Teaching Career 2011-12: NQT Year and Linden 7 Sunderland joined the school as a permanent Teacher of Drama in September 2011, becoming the tutor of Linden 7 in the process. Within her faculty, she quickly befriended Head of Dance Helena Riley and Teaching Assistant Vicki Newson, as well as her former mentor Godwinson and fellow former trainee, Music teacher Holly Charleston. In her NQT observations she scored very highly, with particular praise for delivering interesting and diverse Drama lessons. In the staff-voted RHSS Teaching Awards in May 2012, Sunderland won Best New Teacher and was nominated for Best NQT, and befriended Claire Price, Emily Baker and Yvonne Griffiths, all of whom joined at the same time as her and the two of whom (Baker and Price) trained alongside her for the RHSCITT. 2012-13: Linden 8 Sunderland continued with her tutor group, following them up to Year 8, in September 2012. Due to Head of Performing Arts Lauren Nicholls being on maternity leave, Sunderland took on more of a leading role in the faculty, presenting on several occasions during meetings and delivering talks during staff briefings. In May 2013, she was nominated again at the RHSS Teaching Awards for Best RQT, Best Tutor and Best Performing Arts Staff Member, winning the latter two. 2013-14: Marriage and Maternity Leave In August 2013, Sunderland married David Rowland, therefore becoming Mrs Rowland, and later on in the year gave birth to their first son, George. Rowland was on maternity leave for the full 2013-14 academic year, with her tutor group and many of her classes being taken over by Lewis Godwinson. She visited the school several times, and in the spring and summer terms also spent several weeks in school teaching KS3 Drama while Godwinson was busy with Year 11 revision. She returned as a full-time teacher in September 2014. 2014-15: Linden 10 In September 2014, Rowland became an Assistant Young Enterprise Co-ordinator, second to Fiona Clark, and accompanied the students on several trips and trade fairs as well as attending meetings. She left the role at the end of the year due to increased responsibility in her faculty. In January 2015, Godwinson revealed to Rowland that he would be leaving in July, and had already put her up for consideration to become Head of Drama. Due to her excellent track record, she was given the role without external candidates being interviewed, and in a meeting confirmed she would not be looking for a second teacher to join her, as her close friend Claire Price (now Jones) had promised to support her in KS3 Drama teaching, as well as Head of Dance Riley and Head of Music Charleston. In the RHSS Teaching Awards she won the award for Best Female Teacher and was nominated for Best Performing Arts Staff Member. 2015-16: Linden 11, Head of Drama and Acting Head of Faculty Rowland became Head of Drama officially in September 2015, and followed her tutor group up to Year 11. As well as leading Year 11 Drama revision sessions, she organised tutor group revision sessions for the whole year group and ran a lunchtime revision club two days a week. Since September, Head of Faculty Nicholls had been on maternity leave with Riley as Acting Head of Faculty. However, in January 2016 Riley also went on maternity leave; she originally asked Art teacher Clare Murray to fill in, but she refused, so she asked Rowland, who then accepted, with Murray as her de facto Second in Faculty. She led the faculty for one term until April 2016, when Nicholls returned early; as a result of her excellent co-ordination of the faculty, she was nominated for Teacher of the Year in May 2016 and won Best Performing Arts Staff Member, Best Tutor and Best Faculty Leader. 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